Saints Arms Strike Out 23 in Split

Despite a pair of complete games on the mound and 23 strikeouts from sophomore aces Jakob Hernandez and Adam Keller, the Seward County Saints were only able to manage a split on Saturday at Hobart-Dettar Field in Hutchinson, dropping game one 3-1 in walk off fashion to the rival Blue Dragons before hanging on to win game two 5-4. 

Game one was a pitcher's duel from the start between Seward's Jakob Hernandez and Hutchinson's Nolan Hoffman.  There was no action for the first two innings of play with the first hit of the contest came on a two out Dragon single that was stranded to take the game to the 3^rd scoreless. 

The Saints went down 1-2-3 in each of their next two trips to the plate while the Dragons did in the 3^rd as well as the two teams flew to the bottom of the 4^th with the score still 0-0. 

Hutch was able to load the bases in the 4^th on a single, a hit batter, and a walk, but Hernandez came up big with a strikeout to end the threat and keep the Dragons off the board. 

The Saints picked up their first hit of the game in the 5^th and got a walk behind it to put two on with one out in the inning, but back to back strikeouts killed that rally and kept Seward off the board. 

A solo home run by the Dragons to start their half of the 5^th put the game's first run on the board and put Hutchinson ahead 1-0. 

Seward responded with a run of their own in the top of the 6^th to tie the score as Chad Kennedy led off the inning with a hit and was sacrificed to second before a looping single off the bat of Jared Biddy found the grass in right to score Kennedy and knot the score at 1. 

Hernandez remained in the game and worked another 1-2-3 inning for Seward in the bottom of the 6^th to send the game to the 7^th and final inning still tied at 1. 

The Saints kept the momentum rolling in the 7^th, getting a leadoff single from Justin Graff-Rowe to put them in business in the final inning, but the Saints sophomore was picked off to erase him from the basepaths moments later for the first out of the inning.  It came back to cost the Saints in a big way as Dylan Paul doubled right after the pick off on a ball that likely would have scored the run from first to give the Saints the lead.  Seward would get a pair of walks to load the bases, but couldn't come through with the ducks on the pond, striking out to end the inning and keep the score 1-1. 

Hernandez walked the Dragons leadoff man in the bottom of the 7^th, but like in the top half of the inning, he would pick the runner off for the first out of the frame.  He would pick up two more strikeouts in the inning and the game would go to extras deadlocked at 1. 

The top of the Seward order couldn't muster anything in the top half of the 8^th and Hernandez took the mound again for Seward in the bottom half as his pitch count crept just over 100. 

Another leadoff walk began the Hutch 8^th and on the first pitch to Caden Doga, the Hutch left fielder ended the game, blasting his seventh home run of the season over the left field wall for a two run walk off shot to beat the Saints 3-1. 

In the low scoring affair, the teams combined for just 9 hits, 5 for Seward and 4 for Hutchinson.  Paul had 2 of the Saints 5 hits and their only extra base hit of the contest.  Hernandez suffered yet another tough luck decision, throwing a complete game, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 13 to fall to 3-2 on the year. 

SEWARD COUNTY/HUTCHINSON GAME ONE BOX SCORE

It didn't take long for the Saints to top their game one output in game two of the twinbill as they scored a pair of runs on an RBI double from Logan Nethercot and an RBI groundout from Judah Sweat to quickly take a 2-0 lead in the 1^st. 

Seward starter Adam Keller kept the Dragons off the board until the 3^rd when a Seward error followed by a Hutch double allowed the Dragons to break the ice and cut the Saints lead to 2-1. 

It remained a 2-1 game to the 5^th when the Saints opened things back up.  Sweat smacked a single up the middle to bring home a run and make it a 3-1 in favor of the Saints and then Paul ripped a double to bring home two more to stretch the Seward advantage to 5-1. 

But just as the Saints looked like they were in control, the Dragons got another big blast off the bat of Doga who cranked a three run shot to get Hutch back to within one at 5-4 after 5. 

The Saints got a leadoff walk and a one out single in the 6^th, but couldn't push anything across, striking out three times in the frame to keep it a 5-4 game. 

Seward returned the favor of a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning and a stolen base gave the Dragons two shots with a runner in scoring position to tie the game up but Keller, in for his sixth inning of work, got a groundout and then a fly out to extinguish the fire and keep the Saints in front by one. 

The Saints couldn't take advantage of a Hutch error to start the 7^th and continued to nurse the 5-4 lead into the Dragons final at bats in the bottom of the inning. 

A Seward error allowed the Dragons to put the tying run on base and bring the winning run to the plate to begin the Hutch 7^th.  A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second with one out.  The ever dangerous Doga came up and rather than pitching around the Dragon star who had already burned them twice in the day, Saints Head Coach Galen McSpadden and righthander Adam Keller went right after him, Keller punching him out on three straight pitches for the second out of the inning.  Back to back walks by Keller loaded the bases and pushed the winning run into scoring position with two outs, but McSpadden stuck with his starter and Keller responded by picking up his 10^th strikeout of the game to end the Dragon threat, putting the finishing touches on a 5-4 win for Seward to split the doubleheader. 

As they were in game one, final stat lines were close again in game two.  Each side had 7 hits, the Saints led by 3 hits from Nethercot and 3 RBI's from Paul in the victory.  Keller earned the win, going all the way on the bump, scattering 7 hits while striking out a career high 10 to improve to 2-2 on the year. 

SEWARD COUNTY/HUTCHINSON GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The split moves the Saints to 8-13 overall and 2-4 in Jayhawk West action while the Dragons lose their first game in almost a month in game two, going to 15-1 overall and 5-1 in conference play at days end. 

The Saints and Dragons will hook up again on Sunday in the Salt City to wrap up the series.  First pitch for game three of the four game set is set for 1:00.